Eskimo kiss

I like polar bears and I like girls so that's really all there is to this one. While Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass is possibly my all time favorite fantasy series this has nothing to do with that. Yeah,I've done a bunch of sketches in my sketchbook over the years for Lyra and Yorick paintings but have yet to actually take the time to do one...someday!
I guess this is the second in my series of "nose touching" paintings...the first being that duck/horse one ;)

Big hair girl!

Lot's of hair this time. Since most of my favorite painters are very bold and brushy, I'm trying to be a bit braver with brushstrokes etc. I have a tendency to srub and try to blend things out rather than just putting down a stroke and leaving it alone. I was definitely keeping that in my head on this one.
This was done on a sheet of canvas stock that I was told was made for color copiers, it's an actual sheet of canvas not just some paper with an embossed weave pattern stamped into it....I like it!

Tiger hat girl!

It's been a while but here's a new girl. I've been working on a lot of very technical drawing stuff lately so the other night when I got home I was definitely in need of some "real art" therapy. Yeah, I needed that ;)

Cafe haunting and sketching

Whenever I don't have paintings to show, I like to fall back on the good ol' Moleskine sketchbook drawings. I do a lot of these while I'm grabbing a snack at cafes/airports etc. I used to go to a local figure drawing session but kind of fell out of the habit and so these 'people' drawings fill that need of drawing folks from life. Drawn directly in ink with a Japanese brush pen marker in the small Moleskine plain paper book (not the moleskine "sketchbook").

Watercolor pen

It's been a while since I've posted but I just haven't had the time to devote to my quickie paintings lately. Since I do art all day long and often do commission stuff after that, there are just so many hours in the day!
But I did do these little watercolors recently. I know that there is definitely no shortage of cool drawing and painting supplies out there, but I had the idea to rig up a foam tipped watercolor brush-thingie using a plastic tube and some foam rubber. I wanted something that you could just draw with like a fat watercolor marker and what do you know...it actually works! These were done in a few minutes each...super fast, super fun!

Flapper girl on canvas paper

I haven't been doing any acrylic pieces lately, but I just glanced across the studio and realized that this one has been sitting on the easel for about a month now and I never posted it, so here you go. I did this one using just a few colors, on a piece of "canvas paper" from a Canson pad. I mounted it onto a piece of board so it would be solid while I was working on it. Canvas pads and canvas board get a bad rap but I think that they are a nice texture to paint on with acrylics.

More gray girls...

Even when I'm not posting I've usually got some stuff in the works. Here are some more of the gray gouache studies I've been playing around with lately.

more gray girsl

Gouache time lapse

I took some in progress pics of one of the little heads. I'm using gouache but in a very watercolory way, no white, just diluted shades of black paint. I work from light to dark in typical watercolor style. Alex Ross works the opposite way, establishing the blacks first then adding shades of grey. Maybe I'll give that a try once I get a better feel for things.
With acrylics and oils I jump in with much less of a drawing at the beginning and work from dark to light so this technique uses a whole 'nother side of my brain ;)

Girlie gouache heads

Here's my latest preoccupation, playing around with black and white gouache (opaque watercolor). These are all done on 8.5x11 Strathmore bristol board.

A girl

These days rather than painting in my sketchbook, I use small pieces of masonite or canvas board. One of the perks is that I can put them around the room and see them rather than just flipping past them in my sketchbook. This is probably one of the reasons why I like painting contented faces too, the last thing I need is a bunch of unhappy folks staring at me in the studio!
I primed a bunch of these masonite boards a while back using a roller which makes a slight texture on the surface which can be good and bad.

BUY THIS BOOK!

Just got my copy of the new book on J.C. Leyendecker. I have to say that it almost made me cry, it's that good. I admire people who can do things well but his ability was just staggering. Every painting was beautifully crafted...no duds ever.
This is the kind of book that I dream about...in depth, beautifully designed, and FULL COLOR on one of my all time favorite artists. With the exception of several pages of thumbnail magazine covers, almost all of the art is reproduced full page from the actual paintings, NOT the printed magazine covers. If you ever thought his work was impressive before, to see the paintings in vibrant color is awe inspiring. Go order it now, I'll wait.

Floppy hat girl

Now that's a big hat! This is another small (4x6) oil attempt. To simplify things I went back to my four color palette (yellow ochre,red,white and black) for this one. I figger that since I don't know what I'm doing with oils, the last thing I need to worry about is juggling a lot of colors. Since Batz Maru is my role model, I added him on the shirt for luck.

Fish!

Yeah I know, before you even ask...I have no idea ;)
I was painting the figure and he just looked very serious and I thought I'd change up the mood, so when all else fails, I add fish.
This one is acrylic on masonite about 4"x6".
It's interesting switching between oils and acrylics since the painting process is different for each. I like the way you can work the oil paint even after it's been down for a while , but I also like the way the acrylics hold the brush strokes.

Another furry hat girl

Girls in hats are one of the few things to look forward to as we creep into the cooler weather. Okay, so I don't usually see girls dressed like this on line at Starbucks but a fella can dream.
I'll have to work on how to scan or photograph these canvas ones better.

Sketchpaints book for sale now!

I get the exhibit catalogs from Trees Place gallery all the time and along with the artwork always being really nice, I love the small formats that they use. The books are small, rectangular or square and printed in full color on slick paper. Just for fun, I thought it would be cool to see my stuff in that format so I put together a small collection of some of the sketchbook paintings that I've done.
I decided to sell some of the books here for $6.50 each, postage included within the USA. If you'd like one, you can contact me directly by clicking on the EMAIL ME! link in my link section. Just pass along your email address and I'll send you a request for payment via pay pal. Book measures 4.25" x 5.5", 16 glossy pages with cardstock cover.

Girl in oil

While I've always worked in acrylics, most of my favorite painters use oil paint so every once in a while I feel like I should as well. I dunno, there are things about oils that I like but I'm not convinced that it's for me. I know that I'd feel more like a "REAL ARTIST" if I could just figure out how to use them properly though.
The quest goes on....

I got schooled!

In keeping with my idea that you've got to remain a student if you want to improve, I recently took an oil painting workshop at the Norman Rockwell Museum. The workshop was taught by a super-brushy illustrator named Greg Manchess whose work I've always really liked. Since I've got very little experience in painting with oils and painting from the live model, it was a struggle but I learned a lot and am itching to continue. Greg is a great teacher and a fun guy so the time flew by.
If you're ever near Stockbridge, Mass you really owe it to yourself to check out the Rockwell museum. Even if you don't dig the subject matter, I guarantee that you will leave with a whole new appreciation of just how good a painter he was.

Loomis and Leyendecker are coming in September!

I sure don't want the Summer to end, but there are some great reasons to look forward to September, two of my favorite artists have new books coming out....a brand spankin' new book about J.C. Leyendecker and a looooooong overdue reprinting of Andrew Loomis' Creative Illustration.
Along with a lot of other comic fans in the eighties, I discovered the great Andrew Loomis drawing books through Steve Rude's Nexus series. From the moment I got my hands on one of his books, I knew that I had found gold. While my tastes in lots of things come and go as time goes by, I still want to be Andrew Loomis when I grow up ;)
I have all of his books and every time I pour through them I make some kind of connection that I hadn't before.
While "Figure Drawing for all it's worth" seems like a better choice to test the waters with, "Creative Illustration" is a great book too, it covers everything from composition, to drawing and painting techniques to making a career in art.
I''ve heard that the new publisher may do other Loomis books if this one is well received, so go preorder it now!
Heck, I'm ordering it even though I've already got a copy of the original!

More Moleskine girls

No time for painting, but I thought that I could bury you in more moleskine sketches ;)